After battling, and overcoming, ankle and shin injuries, U.S. Freeski slopestyler Bobby Brown is heading to Sochi for the Winter Olympics. We caught up with him to talk about freeskiing, and Olympics pressure.

How do you think the Olympics are going to change freeskiing?

I think it’s going to bring a lot more people into the sport. I’ve already seen a huge growth since last year when it was announced [that it would be an Olympic sport], and I just think it’s only up from there. You see countries putting money behind it and having freeski teams. And kids are starting to get into it younger, not just because of the Olympics, but because it’s a growing sport.

The progression is going to go through the roof here in Sochi. Everyone wants to win a gold medal, and there is not much of an opportunity for that in the world. As far as the technicality of the runs: It’s going to get pretty crazy. We will have to see how it ends because, depending on who wins the Olympics, it could definitely change the whole sport.

Where does that progression go next? Where does that progression stop?

Yeah I mean, it’s pretty tough because everyone thought putting multiple doubles in a run was hard, and now people are starting to do triple corks. I don’t really know where it stops because every year you think it’s already capped out, but then someone else does something crazy. I think you will definitely need a triple cork to win the Olympics. There are probably six guys out there doing it, and if you can stick it in a run that’ll be pretty impressive.

How do the Olympics differ from things like X or the Dew Tour?

I went to London for the summer Olympics, and it was the most insane thing I’ve ever seen in my life. There is a lot more production, it’s a longer time span, and there are thousands more athletes there, so I definitely think it’s going to be wild. But you know, X Games is definitely the core event that skiers do, and I think that is going to be just as important as the Olympics this year.

Many athletes talk about how the Olympics are all about their country, have you thought about that at all, and does that mentally play a factor?

Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. The opportunity to represent the country is pretty unreal. It is something I never would have dreamed of as a kid because freeskiing wasn’t in the Olympics. It’s one of those things that’s pretty wild. When we got the Team USA gear and saw the USA on the back of the sweatshirt was pretty cool. It was one of those special moments. It will be an awesome opportunity to make the team and rep for the USA.